One Of Solo: A Star Wars Story’s Scenes Was Changed By George Lucas

Though George Lucas’ proposed ideas were left by the wayside during the creation of Disney’s current Star Wars trilogy, director Ron Howard was still willing to listen to the former Lucasfilm boss when it came to Solo: A Star Wars Story.

In fact, as Howard revealed on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (h/t EW), the franchise creator chimed in with his own suggestions when he visited the prequel’s set. Being the gentleman that he is, Ron Howard was all ears, and changed said scene accordingly.

Of course, the creative duo previously worked together on American Graffiti during the 1970s, and while George Lucas “doesn’t spend time” around the newfangled Star Wars movies, he did go out of his way to offer some sage wisdom to his fellow filmmaker, as Howard tells The Late Show:

We were doing a scene and he was trying to stay out of the way, but he did lean over and he said, ‘You know what Han would really do there?’” Howard recalled on The Late Show Thursday night. “I said, ‘What?’ And he told me the joke, he gave me a little joke. And I said [to the crew], ‘Hey, guess what? Here’s what we’re gonna do in the next take.’ So I know when I hear a good idea. We’ve remained friends, so for me it was an incredible show of support and respect and it meant the world to me that he would go out of his way to show up.

Now that Kathleen Kennedy is in the driving seat, Lucasfilm has been keeping a close eye on its movie output, as evidenced by the decision to bring in Tony Gilroy for Rogue One, and part ways with erstwhile Solo directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller.

Their sudden departure opened up the door for Ron Howard to come in and pick up the mantle, even if the director fully admits that said changeover was an “unusual circumstance.”

“It was an unusual circumstance. No movie, no set of creative people want to be a part of something like that. It was absolutely creative differences in this particular case.”

Upon looking over the script, and meeting with esteemed Star Wars screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan, Ron Howard learned the Powers That Be had been mulling over a possible Han Solo origin movie “before even Disney bought Lucasfilm.” And the rest is history.

On May 25th, Solo: A Star Wars Story whisks viewers off into the dark underbelly of Lucasfilm’s time-honored franchise. And as this is a special day for the entire Star Wars community, may the force fourth be with you.